STRONG TORNADO RIPS THROUGH MISSISSIPPI

Written by: Bob Metcalfe


My original blog post today was going to be about the unusually quiet severe weather season we've seen so far (with decades low numbers), but today's weather headlines far surpass that right now. As of this writing, six people have died along with several others injured from a violent tornado in Yazoo, Mississippi, as seen at left. Early estimates show damage from at least 15 counties due to tornadoes this afternoon. The one that struck Yazoo was estimated to be at least 3/4 of a mile wide. Yazoo county has an estimated 28,000 residents, making it fairly rural.

Widespread power outages have also been reported due to the damage.

So far I have not been able to locate estimates as to the strength of the tornado, but tornadoes of that size with the damage that I've seen so far have to be at least an EF-3 or stronger. Crews will survey the damage when it is safe and issue a full report in the near future.

Here on the homefront, we won't see severe weather. Our impact from this storm will be nothing more than good soaking rains. Most will hold off until just after midnight, with peak rainfall hours between 2 and 7AM. Lingering lighter rainfall and scattered showers will continue during the day Sunday. Half an inch or more is likely for almost all areas through the end of the weekend. But even with that, we'll still see quite a deficit in rainfall for the month.